The “Black Book of Gambling. Mafia addictions, young people” (2024 Edition), which contains the periodic investigation promoted by Federconsumatori and CGIL, presented on 29 May in Rome, puts the spotlight on a round of money in gambling which reached 150 billion in 2023 . This figure is equivalent to 5 times the 2024 budget law.
The survey, now in its second edition, presents a map of what was collected in gambling in the Regions, Provinces and Municipalities of Italy during 2023.
They are contained inside many data regarding Emilia-Romagna and the territory of Bologna.
The data makes clear the deep penetration of mafias and the irregular economy within legal gaming; in particular, online has become, due to its mechanisms, the ideal place for the laundering of dirty capital. The report prudently estimates the amount “invested” in online gambling by the mafias at 18 billion.
The figures of online gambling in Emilia-Romagna. The men and women of Emilia-Romagna spent in 2023 4.477 billion in online gambling, losing 231 million euros. A collection that grew by 25.7% compared to 2021, and by 12% compared to 2022. There are 888,575 online accounts present in our Region, while 269,999 are those activated in 2023. For every 1000 residents in the 18-74 age group there are 269 active accounts, almost a third of those present in Campania. Obviously every single player can have multiple active accounts.
Bologna is in the first part of the rankingcwith a growth of 11.2% over the previous year and an average of 1665 euros per capita (18-74 year age group), which places the province of Bologna in 50th place in Italy. Bologna is in 5th place among the northern provinces, after Milan and Turin.
Gambling in the municipalities of our province is growing. There are two municipalities in Bologna that are among the top ten in the ranking of online gaming size of Italian municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants: Zola Predosain third place, with 7,884 euros per capita (in the 18-74 age group) and Calderara di Reno in fifth place, with 5,532 euros. Two realities already reported in our Report on gambling in Emilia-Romagna, and which see further growth compared to 2022: Zola of 5.3% and Calderara of an incredible 23.7%. Around this continuous escalation of numbers, personal and family dramas, debt and extreme gestures also grow.
At the same time, the relationship between minors and gambling is also growing, driven by the subtle and continuous advertising of games, and by the self-interested “tolerance” of many managers of dedicated venues.
THEthe future. There is very little talk about gambling in this electoral campaign, despite the fact that there is an ongoing frontal attack on the rules that various Regions and Municipalities have introduced over time to try to limit the spread of gambling in their territory. Of all the laws, the Emilia-Romagna law is the most criticized by those who want greater freedom of action for gambling businesses. The explicit objective is to demolish those rules, through an absurd national law which would in exchange give Regions and Municipalities resources taken from the taxation of gambling. An exchange that is unacceptable for us and in contrast with the Constitutional provisions, which would put the interests of the very rich companies in the gambling sector at the center, leaving the Municipalities with resources that will not even be enough to deal with the damage caused to the social fabric by the spread of gambling itself, as well as further marginalizing the right to health of Italian men and women.
Federconsumatori Bologna
CDLM-CGIL Bologna
